Product Launch
New audience. New brand. New product.
The Idea:
Reach the next generation with a new approach to Bible study.
The Result:
A new approach to bible study, multiple product lines established, and a mobile app launched from within a 50-year-old organization.
Simmons Strategy Group supported the senior leadership team of a 50-year old ministry in a new product development effort to reach a younger audience. We worked with the ministry from the initial stages through concept, product development, and launch of two new product lines. These next-generation imprints aimed to reach a new and younger audience without compromising on the ministry’s core approach to Bible study.
Vision-Casting and Preparation
While the project had the full support of the leadership, they knew they needed help to break out of established patterns and envision a new future. By working closely with senior leaders and several department heads across the organization, Simmons Strategy Group advised the organization through research, ideation, and early testing efforts before moving on to building and branding.
Building and Development
With a clarified vision and tested product, SSG worked with the team to engaged a brand agency and mobile app design agency to work through further design and build of the product. Over the next year, we worked through both product and business design initiatives, oversaw the program management and brought in new staff in support of the program.
Together, we created new print and digital products and hosted the organization’s second most successful fundraising event, basing the ask on this initiative. Throughout the building and development phase, the team gained a new mindset, ventured into distribution with Amazon, and established a new approach to print and digital production.
Launch and Growth
Within the first year, two complete study series, a collection of branded merch, and a mobile app were launched. Within 15 months of launch, thousands of new products were sold, and the app had nearly 10,000 downloads. The groundwork also began for another next generation brand and multi-media effort that is now thriving.
Beyond the bottom line, the team established a new product development focus, with processes in place to facilitate product development going forward. The project fostered new collaboration across all functional areas in the ministry. The project also enriched the leadership skills of multiple managers. At the end of the assignment, the team was well positioned to achieve its new strategic focus of serving a new generation of young active faith Christians.
“The development of [our new product line] was a large undertaking. It required shifts in how we operated, how we thought, and how we communicated. Simmons Strategy Group provided actionable areas to focus on and helped the team not get sidetracked and overwhelmed by all of the decisions that needed to be made.
— Christina Hamby, SVP Marketing
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